Leaders of the trade specialist General All-purpose Plastics (GAP) are celebrating 30 years of serving customers. In 1993, Simon Bird and Charles Greensmith, joint managing directors of GAP, opened the business’ very first depot in Accrington, Lancashire, selling PVC-U trims, silicones and fixings to local window and door installers.
The double-glazing boom was already in full swing in 1993, which led to GAP expanding quickly over the years, according to GAP representatives. More than 85 depots are now operated by the business, from Inverness to Southampton.
In addition to a large depot network, the team at GAP has also created some ‘much-loved’ industry brands such as Rockdoor and HomeLine. GAP also manufactured a range of door panels under the Cosmopolitan brand. Today, even more products are manufactured in house, including the firm’s own range of aluminium bi-folds, GRP composite doors and PVC-U windows.
“When we started GAP, we loved the industry, our customers and our fantastic team,” said Simon and Charles, managing directors. “Thirty years on, those same things we loved still inspire us when heading to work every morning.
“Of course, a lot has changed in 30 years, as any business operating during these times can testify. We’ve experienced the fantastic highs of natural expansion, acquisitions and new product developments, through to the more difficult periods of recessions, credit crunches and pandemics more recently.
“So, to be able to mark our 30 years makes us very proud of what our fantastic team has achieved. We’ve learnt a lot along our journey, through good and bad, which has afforded us the insight to make better decisions along the way.
“The company business model might have changed over the last three decades however the core values that GAP has achieved such success on will continue to be instilled over the next 30 years. We look forward to the opportunity of working with our dedicated team, to keep encouraging our customers to keep coming back to us time after time, through service, innovation and support.”
